As officials hunted for accomplices of a suicide bomber and Britain's prime minister warned another attack could be "imminent," thousands of people poured into the streets of Manchester in a defiant vigil Tuesday for victims of a blast at a pop concert — the latest apparent target of Islamic extremists seeking to rattle life in the West.

wire reports

Warning of "imminent" attack, Britain raises threat level

MANCHESTER, England — As officials hunted for accomplices of a suicide bomber and Britain's prime minister warned another attack could be "imminent," thousands of people poured into the streets of Manchester in a defiant vigil Tuesday for victims of a blast at a pop concert — the latest apparent target of Islamic extremists seeking to rattle life in the West.

The attack left at least 22 dead, including an 8-year-old girl, shattering the revelry at a show by American singer Ariana Grande, where strains of electric pop and the sways of innocent young fans quickly gave way to an explosion, a flood of screams and a stampede of panicked concert-goers, many clutching pink balloons and wearing the kitten-ear headbands popularized by Grande.

Touching on that disconnect, British Prime Minister Theresa May said: "We struggle to comprehend the warped and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a scene to cherish but as an opportunity for carnage."

Russia-Trump campaign contacts a concern, ex-CIA chief says

WASHINGTON — Former CIA Director John Brennan told Congress Tuesday he personally warned Russia last summer against interfering in the U.S. presidential election and was so concerned about Russian contacts with people involved in the Trump campaign that he convened top counterintelligence officials to focus on it.

Brennan's testimony to the House intelligence committee was the clearest public description yet of the significance these contacts play in counterintelligence investigations that continue to hang over the White House.

Brennan, who was President Barack Obama's CIA director, said he couldn't say whether there was collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, an issue being investigated by the FBI and congressional committees.

Trump budget keeps pledges: Cuts for poor, more for military

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fulfilled a major campaign promise Tuesday, proposing a $4.1 trillion budget plan that would upend Washington in a big way. But he drew rebukes, even from some Republican allies, for the plan's jarring, politically unrealistic cuts to the social safety net for the poor and a broad swath of other domestic programs.

The budget, Trump's first as president, combines his spending plan for the upcoming 2018 fiscal year with a promise to balance government books after a decade, relying on aggressive cuts, a surge in economic growth — and a $2 trillion-plus accounting gimmick.

"Through streamlined government, we will drive an economic boom that raises incomes and expands job opportunities for all Americans," Trump declared in his budget message.

PITTSBURGH — Bill Cosby's lawyers accused Pennsylvania prosecutors of trying to "systematically" keep blacks off the jury after prosecutors used their strikes to keep two black women off the panel.

Judge Steven O'Neill for now rejected the argument after prosecutors said the second woman was a former detective who had sued Pittsburgh and may have an anti-government bias.

The 11 people chosen so far include one black juror. Lawyers return Wednesday to seek the final juror and six alternates.

O'Neill said he would revisit the issue if defense lawyer Brian McMonagle offered statistical evidence to back his discrimination complaint.

Roger Moore had prouder achievements than playing James Bond

LONDON — Sir Roger Moore saw more to life than a well-mixed martini.

"I felt small, insignificant and rather ashamed that I had traveled so much making films and ignored what was going on around me," he would say years after starring in seven James Bond movies and upon accepting a role that his friend Audrey Hepburn inspired him to take on, goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

Moore, who died Tuesday at age 89, didn't seem to take Bond that seriously even while playing him. Burdened with following Sean Connery as Agent 007, Moore kept it light, using a wry, amused tone and perpetually arched eyebrow as if he had landed on the set by accident. Connery embodied for millions the role of Bond as the suave drinker, womanizer and disposer of evil. Moore didn't so much inhabit the character as look upon him with disbelief.

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